RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA, March 6-16, 2025

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From a Film at Lincoln Center press release:

UniFrance and Film at Lincoln Center Present
30th Rendez-Vous with French Cinema
March 6–16, 2025

FILMLEAF FESTIVAL COVERAGE THREAD

SOURCE

Opening Night—Emmanuel Mouret's Three Friends with Mouret and actress India Hair in person
Scheduled to appear at the festival for select Q&As and special introductions are: Elizabeth Becker, Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, Gilles Bourdos, Claire Burger, Delphine and Muriel Coulin, Louise Courvoisier, Matt Dillon, Judith Godrèche, Vincent Lindon, Thibaut de Longeville, Patricia Mazuy, Jonathan Millet, Rithy Panh, Thierry de Peretti, Camille Perton, Michel Petrossian, Agathe Riedinger, and Anamaria Vartolomei

The Second Act, Souleymane’s Story, Three Friends, Cross Away, and Being Maria

New York, NY (January 30, 2025) – Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center announce the lineup for the 30th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, running from March 6 to March 16. This celebrated festival offers a dynamic showcase of contemporary French filmmaking, featuring an array of 23 films by both emerging voices—some selected as part of Unifrance’s 10 to Watch 2025 Program*, a yearly initiative honoring a new generation of directors and actors who contribute to the vitality of French creation—and seasoned directors that tackle relevant and enduring themes. This selection of North American, U.S., and New York premieres celebrates the energy, innovation, and range of French cinema.

Opening the festival is Emmanuel Mouret’s romantic drama Three Friends; Mouret and actress India Hair* will introduce the screening. Co-written by Mouret and Carmen Leroi, the film explores the complexities of friendship and romance through the perspectives of three close friends (played by Hair, Camille Cottin, and Sara Forestier), each with contrasting views on love and relationships. It premiered in competition at the 81st Venice Film Festival.

Rendez-Vous returning favorites include the U.S. premiere of In His Own Image by Thierry de Peretti, in which a photographer’s love affair with an activist intersects with Corsica’s fight for independence; When Fall Is Coming, François Ozon’s darkly emotional thriller about a retiree whose country life masks her more complicated past; Visiting Hours by Patricia Mazuy and starring Isabelle Huppert, the story of the unlikely friendship between two women; and Suspended Time, a disarmingly personal work of autofiction from the great Olivier Assayas, capturing two brothers and their romantic partners trying to maintain their sanity amid the extended isolation of the 2020 pandemic lockdown while cohabiting in their provincial family house.

Three films in the festival feature the acclaimed actor Vincent Lindon. He stars in the 77th Cannes Film Festival opener The Second Act by Quentin Dupieux, a meta-comedy taking place on a film set and featuring a star-studded cast; the North American premiere of the dramatic thriller Cross Away by Gilles Bourdos; and The Quiet Son by Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin, about the complex relationship between a father and son who becomes active in far-right extremist groups, for which Lindon won Best Actor at the 81st Venice Film Festival.

Coming of age films include the North American premiere of Camille Perton’s Arenas, starring Édgar Ramírez (Emilia Pérez, NYFF62) set in the world of professional youth soccer; the U.S. premiere of And Their Children After Them by twin brothers Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma*, based on the best-selling book by French author Nicolas Mathieu, which tracks the lasting impact of the actions of three teenage boys over the course of four summers in 1990s France, and was top winner at the Seville European Film Festival after premiering in Venice; and Claire Burger’s 74th Berlin Film Festival selection Foreign Tongue, which delves into intergenerational and cross-cultural themes through the relationship of two young exchange students. Two remarkable feature debuts that premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival are Agathe Riedinger’s* Wild Diamond, a gripping exploration of 19-year-old Liane’s (Malou Khebizi) fierce pursuit of fame as a reality TV contestant; and Louise Courvoisier’s* Holy Cow, which follows 18-year-old Totone’s (Clément Faveau) unlikely drive to produce the best Comté cheese in his region.

Political and social issues feature in Aude Léa Rapin’s dystopian science-fiction thriller Planet B; Jonathan Millet’s* harrowing Ghost Trail, in which a former prisoner pursuing Syria’s fugitive leaders is determined to confront his torturer; Rithy Panh’s Meeting with Pol Pot, based on the true story of the deadly journey of three French journalists invited to interview Pol Pot in 1978 Cambodia; Boris Lojkine’s Souleymane’s Story, winner of the Jury Prize and Best Actor in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, following Guinean immigrant Souleymane (Abou Sangaré) as he struggles to stay afloat; and Jessica Palud’s Being Maria, which premiered at Cannes, an unsparing exploration of Maria Schneider’s (Anamaria Vartolomei) trauma stemming from her experience on the set of Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris.

Other festival highlights include the U.S. premiere of the six-episode documentary miniseries DJ Mehdi: Made in France, an in-depth celebration of the legacy and enduring influence of the generational talent directed by one of Mehdi’s closest friends, Thibaut de Longeville. Emmanuel Courcol’s The Marching Band, which premiered at Cannes, traces the touching reunion of two brothers, now both musicians, after being separated at birth; and the U.S. premiere of Koya Kamura’s deeply touching Winter in Sokcho, which follows Son-ha (Bella Kim) as she forms a tentative bond with artist Yan Kerrand (Roschdy Zem) when he arrives to stay in her Korean seaside town.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, February 6.

2025 RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA AT LINCOLN CENTER:

FILMS & DESCRIPTIONS
All films screen in the Walter Reade Theater (165 W. 65th St.)

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Opening Night
Three Friends / Trois amies
Emmanuel Mouret, 2024, France, 117m
French with English subtitles
New York Premiere
After the death of her husband Victor (Vincent Macaigne), widow Joan (India Hair) is stricken with guilt: Just before his untimely demise, she had come to the realization that she was unhappy in the marriage, and disclosed those feelings to Victor. In his latest meticulously observed study of the unpredictable path of love, writer-director Emmanuel Mouret reunites with his Diary of a Fleeting Affair (Rendez-Vous 2023) star Macaigne, who serves as the fulcrum for this incisive, empathetic study of three conflicted women. As Joan begins to rebuild, her best friends Alice (Camille Cottin) and Rebecca (Sara Forestier) negotiate unstable affairs while keeping each other company through each surprising emotional development. Setting his fable in scenic Lyon, Mouret delivers a charming, prototypically French take on the romantic drama, demonstrating the mastery of the genre he’s honed over the last two decades.
Thursday, March 6 at 6:00pm – Introduction by Emmanuel Mouret and India Hair
Thursday, March 6 at 8:45pm

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And Their Children After Them / Leurs enfants après eux
Ludovic Boukherma, Zoran Boukherma, 2024, France, 140m
French with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere
Taking place against the backdrop of widespread deindustrialization in ’90s France, And Their Children After Them dramatizes the long-lasting consequences for two boys following a fight at a party. Anthony (Paul Kircher) is the son of a stern, embittered alcoholic father (Gille Lellouche) and disconnected mother (Ludivine Sagnier); coming from a differently fraught family background, Moroccan immigrant Hacine (Sayyid El Alami*) is more vulnerable before the law. One of the most important French novels of recent years, Nicolas Mathieu’s 2018 winner of the prestigious French literary award Prix Goncourt comes to epic life in this adaptation from twin writer-directors Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma. Inspired equally by the works of Émile Zola and Bruce Springsteen, the Boukhermas anchor their saga with pitch-perfect realism in a vividly evoked mid-’90s period setting. At the film’s center is Kircher, who, following breakout roles in Winter Boy (Rendez-Vous 2023) and Animal Kingdom (Rendez-Vous 2024), confirms his promise as one of the most charismatic and compelling young actors in France today.
Thursday, March 13 at 1:00pm
Saturday, March 15 at 3:15pm – Q&A with Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma

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Arenas / Les Arènes
Camille Perton, 2024, France, 94m
French and English with English subtitles
North American Premiere
When his father is no longer able to provide for the family, ultra-talented 18-year-old Brahim (Ilies Kadri) faces new pressure to embark on a long-anticipated career as a professional soccer player. Frustrated that his longtime manager and friend Mehdi (Sofian Khammes) hasn’t managed to close a deal for a spot on his dream team, Brahim is intrigued by the services offered by shadowy power player Francis (Édgar Ramírez), whose promises of career advancement may prove all too costly. An immersive exploration into the shadier business dealings that animate the world of professional youth soccer, Camille Perton’s debut feature travels from Brahim’s native Lyon to the glittering waters of Nice and beyond, navigating thorny ethical dilemmas within the narrative framework of a nerve-racking thriller. The typically magnetic Ramírez looms large, delivering a masterful turn as a well-heeled but enigmatically sinister figure who may or may not have his client’s best interest at heart.
Sunday, March 16 at 12:30pm – Q&A with Camille Perton

Being Maria / Maria
Jessica Palud, 2024, France, 103m
French and English with English subtitles
New York Premiere
“Actors don’t choose roles,” actor Daniel Gélin (Yvan Attal) tells his daughter Maria Schneider (Anamaria Vartolomei). “Roles choose them!” After her galvanizing performance as a young woman seeking out an illegal abortion in Audrey Diwan’s Happening (ND/NF 2022), Vartolomei delivers another indelible portrait of a woman in extremis with writer-director Jessica Palud’s second feature, moving beyond Schneider’s encounter with director Bernardo Bertolucci on the set of Last Tango in Paris, during the shoot of the infamous “get the butter” scene (which the actress repeatedly identified as a violation of her consent), to contemplate the actress’s larger life and legacy. The shoot itself is meticulously reconstructed—featuring a remarkable turn by Matt Dillon as Schneider’s significantly more famous costar and scene partner, Marlon Brando—in order to contextualize the private and public fallout from Schneider’s equally iconic and traumatizing breakout performance. Palud was herself an assistant director for Bertolucci at age 19 (the same age Schneider was during the production of Last Tango) and brings a welcome eye for complexity to an unsparing, compassionate reframing of a much-discussed incident—rooted firmly in the perspective of the actress at its center. A Kino Lorber release.
Saturday, March 15 at 6:45pm – Q&A with Matt Dillon and Anamaria Vartolomei

Cross Away / Le Choix
Gilles Bourdos, 2024, France, 77m
French with English subtitles
North American Premiere
Rounding out strong ensemble casts in this year’s Rendez-Vous selections The Quiet Son and The Second Act, the great Vincent Lindon is virtually the entire show in Cross Away. In this Gallic take on Steven Knight’s acclaimed 2013 drama Locke, Lindon is Joseph Cross, a construction foreman who supervises concrete pours. The night before a particularly big job, he’s compelled to leave the worksite in a hurry and set out, for obscure reasons, to an undisclosed destination. As Cross, driving deep into the night while struggling—one phone call at a time—to keep his life and work from falling apart, Lindon crafts a wholly original take on the character indelibly played by Tom Hardy in the original film, resulting in a riveting one-man show that starkly externalizes a long, dark night of the soul.
Friday, March 7 at 6:00pm – Q&A with Gilles Bourdos and Vincent Lindon
Monday, March 10 at 1:30pm

DJ Mehdi: Made in France
Thibaut de Longeville, 2024, France, 240m (incl. 15m intermission)
French and English with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere
A key figure of French music in the last 30 years, DJ Mehdi bridged the worlds of hip-hop and electronic dance music in his too-brief 34 years, mirroring the French music industry’s journey from stagnation to unprecedented heights of international prominence and success. Directed by one of his closest friends, this remarkable six-episode documentary miniseries is a deep-dive treat for music fans and the uninitiated alike. Getting his start as a child prodigy who built his own sampler in early adolescence, Mehdi was launched to prominence as a DJ for the rap group Ideal J when he was just 13—an appropriately meteoric origin story for a generational talent. Bringing viewers along for a detailed celebration of his legacy and his enduring influence on musicians across genres, ranging from foundational hip-hop group 113 to mega dance stars Justice, DJ Mehdi: Made in France also tells a larger story about how rap broke out of the banlieue to reshape the national cultural landscape.
Sunday, March 9 at 6:00pm – Q&A with Thibaut de Longeville

Foreign Tongue / Langue étrangère
Claire Burger, 2024, France/Germany, 101m
French and German with English subtitles
New York Premiere
When Fanny (Lilith Grasmug) meets her German pen pal Lena (Josefa Heinsius), their initial rapport is rocky: the shy, insecure French teen has arrived from Strasbourg for an extended visit at a difficult moment for the more assertive Lena. With time, however, the two girls’ relationship grows and deepens into real friendship; when Lena agrees to visit Fanny in France, their shared interest in political activism takes a troubling turn. In her third feature, Claire Burger (co-director of Party Girl, Rendez-Vous 2015) casts an up-to-the-moment eye on two young women exploring their desires and discovering themselves in the context of dangerously charged political and societal circumstances. With outstanding supporting performances from Nina Hoss and Chiara Mastroianni as the two girls’ mothers, Foreign Tongue is at once intimate in its portrait of two differently wounded girls at vulnerable moments in their lives, and thrilling in the unexpected revelations and twists that propel the two through the upheavals of young adulthood.
Wednesday, March 12 at 1:00pm
Thursday, March 13 at 6:00pm – Q&A with Claire Burger

Ghost Trail / Les Fantômes
Jonathan Millet, 2024, France/Belgium/Germany, 94m
French, Arabic, Turkish, and English with English subtitles
New York Premiere
Two years after being released from Syrian jail, Hamid (Adam Bessa*) is making ends meet as a construction worker in the French city of Strasbourg, where, haunted by the memory of his imprisonment, the young man searches tirelessly for the man who tortured him, determined to get his revenge—but what’s the real price of vengeance for the person seeking it? Inspired by true events, Jonathan Millet’s deeply researched thriller excavates the too-little-examined moral dilemmas and political negligence that traumatized migrants must confront amid the struggle to rebuild their lives and take control of their destinies at the margins of contemporary French society, inviting audiences to better empathize with France’s newest residents, and to better understand their place in the world—and our own. A Music Box Films release.
Sunday, March 9 at 3:15pm – Q&A with Jonathan Millet
Tuesday, March 11 at 9:00pm

Holy Cow / Vingt Dieux
Louise Courvoisier, 2024, France, 92m
French with English subtitles
New York Premiere
Following the sudden death of his farmer father, hard-partying 18-year-old Totone (Clément Faveau) is abruptly obliged to step into the role of man of the house in Louise Courvoisier’s directorial debut, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Taking a job at a nearby dairy farm, where he quickly falls for the farmer’s daughter, Totone makes up his mind to jump-start his family’s future via an unorthodox shortcut: winning a 30,000 Euro prize for producing the best Comté in the region. In this warm, lived-in coming-of-age fable—a treat for cheese-loving cinephiles in particular—Courvoisier brings together a cast of non-professional actors from the Jura region where she herself grew up, creating a rich depiction of rural agricultural life that’s also a crowd-pleasing story about the unlikely detours that shape the utterly unpredictable process of growing up. A Zeitgeist Films release in association with Kino Lorber.
Saturday, March 8 at 12:30pm – Q&A with Louise Courvoisier

In His Own Image / À son image
Thierry de Peretti, 2024, France, 115m
French, English, and Corse with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere
An acclaimed actor and, in his capacity as director, a Rendez-Vous regular dating back to his first feature, 2013’s Apaches, Thierry de Peretti returns to that film’s Corsican setting in his latest, an ambitiously sweeping account of recent Corsican history that operates in an intimate register. Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Jérôme Ferrari, de Peretti’s retelling follows Antonia (Clara-Maria Laredo), an enigmatic but driven photographer, from the 1980s to the moment, bearing witness to her love affair with the increasingly radical activist Pascal (Louis Starace) as it intersects with the intricacies of the island’s often-violent fight for independence. Shooting in masterfully controlled long takes to evoke decades of turmoil, de Peretti conjures a vision of a woman who remains deeply and passionately engaged with the realities of her place and time, steadfastly refusing to separate the political from the personal.
Wednesday, March 12 at 6:00pm – Q&A with Thierry de Peretti
Friday, March 14 at 1:30pm

Jim’s Story / Le Roman de Jim
Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu, 2024, France, 101m
French with English subtitles
New York Premiere
Adrift in his early twenties, Aymeric (Karim Leklou) runs into former coworker Florence (Laetitia Dosch), six months pregnant with a child for whom already-married father Christophe (iconic actor and musician Bertrand Belin) refuses to take responsibility. Aymeric proves himself to be a generous partner to Florence and a perfect, loving parent, adored by his adoptive child—but when Christophe decides he wants to build a relationship with his growing son, Jim (Eol Personne), the security of Aymeric’s cherished role in the family unit begins to falter. Equally at ease applying their offbeat vision to thrillers (Love Is the Perfect Crime, Rendez-Vous 2014) and comedies (21 Nights with Pattie, Rendez-Vous 2016), the Larrieu brothers make a triumphant return with this impressive adaptation of Pierric Bailly’s novel of the same name, crafting a heartfelt and realistic portrait of the bonds of fatherhood, beautifully embodied by Leklou in a generous, vulnerable lead performance.
Friday, March 7 at 1:00pm
Saturday, March 15 at 9:30pm

The Marching Band / En fanfare
Emmanuel Courcol, 2024, France, 103m
French with English subtitles
New York Premiere
They couldn’t be more different: Thibault (Benjamin Lavernhe) is a world-famous orchestra conductor and pianist; Jimmy (Pierre Lottin) is a blue-collar kitchen worker who plays trombone in the local marching band. Separated in their infancy, the two brothers are reunited unexpectedly as adults and, after some initial friction, find themselves growing closer when Thibault decides to help nurture Jimmy’s nascent musical talent. An equally hilarious and affecting crowd-pleaser from Emmanuel Courcol (The Big Hit, Rendez-Vous 2021), this Cannes favorite draws equally nuanced and sensitive portraits of affluence and working-class life in the northern town of Lille to bring texture and substance to a universally resonant story about the power of family. At its center are a pair of sparkling performances from Lavernhe and Lottin, two of France’s most promising rising stars.
Tuesday, March 11 at 6:15pm – Q&A with composer Michel Petrossian
Sunday, March 16 at 3:15pm

Meeting with Pol Pot / Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot
Rithy Panh, 2024, France/Cambodia/Taiwan/Qatar/Turkey, 112m
French and Cambodian with English subtitles
New York Premiere
In 1978, three French journalists arrived in Cambodia to survey the country and interview its leader, Pol Pot—but after a picture-perfect arrival, cracks began to emerge in the murderous regime’s facade of respectability. For Cambodian-born Rithy Panh, the damage inflicted upon his homeland by the Khmer Rouge has fueled a lifetime of innovative work in the vein of 2013’s The Missing Picture, which reconstructed the period’s events in part through clay-figurine dioramas. This real-life journalistic excursion, based on true events detailed in Elizabeth Becker’s nonfiction book When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution, is brought to life thanks to exemplary lead performances from Irène Jacob, Grégoire Colin, and Cyril Gueï, meticulously conjuring the sights and sounds of 1978 Cambodia with the assistance of archival footage and more clay figurines. The result is a unique admixture—historical horror paired with a rich meditation on the impossibility of portraying it—that only Panh could make. A Strand Releasing release.
Friday, March 7 at 8:30pm – Q&A with Rithy Panh and Elizabeth Becker
Thursday, March 13 at 8:45pm

Planet B / Planète B
Aude Léa Rapin, 2024, France, 118m
French, English, and Arabic with English subtitles
New York Premiere
2039: after a group of environmental activists known only as “R” are arrested in the midst of an attempted bombing, they wake up on Planet B—the world’s first virtual prison. R’s members, among them Julia (Adèle Exarchopoulos), struggle to figure out how to escape, but soon find that the greatest challenge of all might be resisting the temptation to turn on each other; meanwhile, undocumented Iraqi journalist Nour (Souheila Yacoub) learns of the facility’s existence and sets about finding her way in. Unnervingly tapping into contemporary anxieties about VR and climate change, Aude Léa Rapin’s innovative thriller looks slightly into the future to offer a disturbingly convincing vision of what could be in store. Alongside cutting-edge visual effects, Planet B boasts a typically ominous and atmospheric score from director-composer Bertrand Bonello (director of NYFF61 Main Slate selection The Beast).
Wednesday, March 12 at 3:30pm
Friday, March 14 at 8:45pm

The Quiet Son / Jouer avec le feu
Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin, 2024, France/Belgium, 118m
French with English subtitles
New York Premiere
Pierre (Vincent Lindon), a widower who has dedicated his life to his two children, is shaken to discover that his older son Fus (Benjamin Voisin) has begun hanging out with violent right-wing nationalists. Whereas their previous collaborations (17 Girls, Rendez-Vous 2012; The Stopover, Rendez-Vous 2016) trained an eye on the experience of women in France, for their third feature the Coulin sisters have applied an equally analytical and empathetic perspective to a decidedly masculine environment. This sobering contemplation of radicalization takes a nuanced look at two equally strong, competing impulses: loyalty to family on one hand, and responsibility toward the greater social good on the other. At its center is the typically masterful Lindon, delivering a career-best performance for which he was awarded Best Actor at last year’s Venice Film Festival.
Saturday, March 8 at 6:00pm – Q&A with Delphine and Muriel Coulin and Vincent Lindon
Tuesday, March 11 at 1:00pm

The Second Act / Le Deuxième Acte
Quentin Dupieux, 2024, France, 80m
French with English subtitles
New York Premiere
A movie-within-a-movie (or is it?), the latest quirkily imaginative feature from Quentin Dupieux (Smoking Causes Coughing, Rendez-Vous 2023) is, among other things, a showcase for some of France’s most talented working performers to riff on their own personas to hilarious effect. Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel, and Raphaël Quenard are among the actors attempting to make their way through the production of a movie none of them seems to like very much. Repeatedly breaking the fourth wall and irreverently lampooning everything from AI to Paul Thomas Anderson, Dupieux’s meta-movie—the opening night selection at last year’s Cannes Film Festival—is an ebullient and thought-provoking behind-the-scenes comedy that gleefully deconstructs itself, inciting plenty of belly laughs along the way.
Saturday, March 8 at 9:00pm – Introduction by Vincent Lindon
Thursday, March 13 at 4:00pm

Souleymane’s Story / L’Histoire de Souleymane
Boris Lojkine, 2024, France, 94m
French, Fulah, and Malinka with English subtitles
New York Premiere[
In the opening scenes of Boris Lojkine’s urgent third feature, a Guinean immigrant bicycles frantically from one food delivery pickup to another, the camera racing along just behind him, revealing a singular new view of Paris from the perspective of some of its most underappreciated workers. Over the two days that follow, Souleymane (played by non-professional actor Abou Sangaré in a riveting first performance) struggles to stay afloat while preparing for a crucial immigration asylum interview. Stylistically inspired in part by Cristian Mungiu’s 2007 Cannes winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Lojkine’s bracing, artful realism offers an equally affecting account of a migrant laborer’s experience finding himself caught up in the mechanisms of an uncaring and unforgiving society. Shooting on city streets with concealed cameras, Lojkine creates a simultaneously pulse-pounding and heartrending view of contemporary Parisian life.
Sunday, March 9 at 1:00pm – Introduction by producer Bruno Nahon
Friday, March 14 at 4:00pm

Suspended Time / Hors du temps
Olivier Assayas, 2024, France, 105m
French with English subtitles
New York Premiere
“Never have I felt like less of a filmmaker,” frets Paul Berger (Vincent Macaigne). It’s April of 2020, and the film director has escaped to the provinces, living in lockdown with his brother Etienne (Micha Lescot), a middle-aged music journalist, and their respective romantic partners. The couples try to maintain their sanity in the midst of extended isolation in this tonally masterful dramedy from the great Olivier Assayas (Irma Vep, Personal Shopper). In an autobiographical vein, Assayas presents a disarmingly personal (and often very funny) perspective on the pandemic, taking place at the director’s very own family house. Amassing a wealth of insights into the foundational relationships and rural background that shaped him, Assayas is equally adept at thoughtfully reconstructing an unprecedented moment in our shared history with the grace and compassion that only a master filmmaker can bring.
Friday, March 14 at 6:15pm
Sunday, March 16 at 8:15pm

This Life of Mine / Ma vie ma gueule
Sophie Fillières, 2024, France, 99m
French and English with English subtitles
New York Premiere
A beloved performer, the late Sophie Fillières was also an influential writer-director, cited as a key influence by filmmakers including Anatomy of a Fall’s Justine Triet. For her final feature—which she finished shooting shortly before her death—Fillières cast another important French actress-writer-director to inhabit a leading role inspired by Fillière’s own experience. Agnès Jaoui (The Taste of Others, Look at Me) stars as Barbie, a middle-aged writer whose mental health is unraveling. Alienated from her grown children, the single woman is forced to confront her problems when an uncanny encounter with a man who claims to know Barbie lands her in the hospital. Simultaneously fearless, exasperating, and endearing, Jaoui’s performance probes the obscure inner life of a woman whose complexities and contradictions ultimately lead her on a journey of discovery, growth, and rebuilding; the resulting film is as hilarious as it is poignant—a fitting last work from a great filmmaker.
Thursday, March 6 at 3:00pm
Monday, March 10 at 6:00pm – Introduction by producer Julie Salvador

Visiting Hours / La Prisonnière de Bordeaux
Patricia Mazuy, 2024, France, 108m
French with English subtitles
New York Premiere
Two of France’s greatest working actresses—the legendary Isabelle Huppert and The Secret of the Grain star Hafsia Herzi—are paired in this moving drama from Patricia Mazuy. Affluent Alma (Huppert) meets working-class Mina (Herzi) during visits to the prison facility where both of their husbands are serving time. Despite their different backgrounds, the two women quickly form a close connection—but can their bond survive the conflicting pressures of their respective circumstances? Revered at home but sadly under-celebrated here, co-writer and director Patricia Mazuy has proven exceptionally adept at repurposing conventions of tone and genre to her own ends in films like the offbeat police-comedy-thriller Paul Sanchez Is Back! (Rendez-Vous 2019) and the grim neo-noir Saturn Bowling. With her new film, Mazuy once again demonstrates her mastery of tonal shifts and her steadfast refusal to be pigeonholed in this trenchant depiction of the French carceral system and the shaky relationships it engenders.
Saturday, March 8 at 3:00pm – Q&A with Patricia Mazuy
Monday, March 10 at 8:30pm

When Fall Is Coming / Quand vient l’automne
François Ozon, 2024, France, 102m
French with English subtitles
New York Premiere
Retiree Michelle (Hélène Vincent) lives in the countryside, peacefully enjoying her ample free time with lifelong friend Marie-Claude (Josiane Balasko). Despite being estranged from her hostile daughter Valérie (Ludivine Sagnier), Michelle looks forward to a visit from her grandson Lucas (Garlan Erlos)—but when things don’t go as planned during his stay, a long-simmering mother-daughter conflict erupts. Applying his characteristically destabilizing artistry to the shapeshifting contours of this deceptively low-key drama, Rendez-Vous regular François Ozon (Everything Went Fine, Rendez-Vous 2022; Summer of ’85, Rendez-Vous 2021) devotes loving attention to the complex experiences of an elderly woman whose past keeps rearing its head in unforeseeable ways. Boasting impeccable turns from a strong ensemble cast, the film’s many pleasures include Ozon’s reunion with his Swimming Pool leading lady Sagnier for their first collaboration in more than two decades. A Music Box Films release.
Friday, March 7 at 3:30pm
Sunday, March 16 at 5:45pm

Wild Diamond / Diamant brut
Agathe Riedinger, 2024, France, 103m
French and English with English subtitles
New York Premiere
Nineteen-year-old Liane (Malou Khebizi) lives with her mother and sister in a small southern town and harbors dreams of achieving fame as a reality TV contestant. When she auditions for Miracle Island, her breakout moment seems imminent—but anticipation soon curdles into disillusionment, and Liane’s hopes start crashing as she spirals into self-doubt. Scouting nonprofessional performers for her feature debut (the only first film selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival), writer-director Agathe Riedinger treats potentially sensationalistic material with an authentic and refreshingly non-judgmental gaze, bringing a complex perspective to a subject often reduced to well-worn sound bites, and introducing viewers to the lesser-known rhythms of life in the workaday small cities of the Côte d’Azur region. A Strand Releasing release.
Monday, March 10 at 3:30pm
Saturday, March 15 at 12:30pm – Q&A with Agathe Riedinger

Winter in Sokcho / Hiver à Sokcho
Koya Kamura, 2024, France/Korea, 94m
French, Korean, and English with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere ]
Having never met her long-absent French father, Son-ha (Bella Kim) is startled when artist Yan Kerrand (Roschdy Zem) arrives to stay at the small hotel where she works in a Korean seaside town. The half-Korean literature student and the French outsider form a tentative bond, but Son-ha can’t help but wonder about the truth behind his identity and his reason for visiting. An intimate drama set against the naturally majestic background of its wintry setting, Koya Kamura’s understated triumph sketches out a nascent parental relationship in which newcomer Kim proves a real discovery, more than holding her own against veteran performer Zem (The Innocent, Rendez-Vous 2023). The delicately rendered result is a story of tentative beginnings, cross-cultural bonding, and the never-ending search for self-understanding.
Tuesday, March 11 at 3:30pm
Wednesday, March 12 at 9:00pm


FREE TALKS
All Talks take place in the Amphitheater in the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (144 W. 65th Street)


Producers Shaping the Future of Film
This panel unites trailblazing film producers from France and the U.S. to examine how they are redefining the craft and business of filmmaking as leaders in today’s dynamic landscape. Producers Flore Biet (DJ Mehdi: Made in France), Muriel Meynard (Holy Cow), Alex Lo (Being Maria), and Gabriel Mayers (A Different Man) will discuss navigating unprecedented challenges in the film industry—from shifting distribution models to the rise of AI—while championing innovative storytelling. Taking place on International Women’s Day, the conversation is organized in collaboration with French in Motion and Gotham Film & Media Institute.
Saturday, March 8 at 5:00pm

Frames of Change: Judith Godrèche and Moi Aussi
French actress Judith Godrèche has emerged as a leading figure and force for change for the MeToo movement in the French film industry. Godrèche filed a complaint in 2024 against two French directors for sexual violence when she was a minor (the investigation is still ongoing). She was also one of the first women in France to go public about her experience with Harvey Weinstein. Her powerful short film Moi Aussi, inspired by the over 6,000 messages she received after testifying, premiered in Un Certain Regard at the 81st Cannes Film Festival in 2024. Join Godrèche in a conversation about how her actions impacted her career and shook up the French film industry. A screening of her film Moi Aussi will precede the conversation.
Tuesday, March 11 at 5:00pm

VISITING HOURS/LA PRISONNIERRE DE BORDEAUX (Patricia Mazuy, 2024)

A review from the coming 2025 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. About the odd bond across class lines that develops between two wives who meet visiting their incarcerated husbands.

Showing:
Saturday, March 8 at 3:00pm – Q&A with Patricia Mazuy
Monday, March 10 at 8:30pm

THIS LIFE OF MINE/MA VIE MA GUEULE (Sophie Fillières 2024)

The surreal last film of the late Sopiie Fillières is also a showcase of the highy appropriate acting talents of Agnès Jaoui. The quiirky character portrait of a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Showing:
Thursday, March 6 at 3:00pm
Monday, March 10 at 6:00pm – Introduction by producer Julie Salvador

DJ MEHDI: MADE IN FRANCE episode 1 Thibaud de Longueville 2024

Preview of an Arte-sponsored miniseries about a prodigious French hip-hop composer and producer whose Quiny Jones-like accomplishments were cut short by his premature death at age 34.

Showing:

Sunday, March 9
6:00 PM Q&A with Thibaut de Longeville on March 9

The runtime includes a 15 minute intermission.

WINTER IN SOKCHO/HIVER À SOKCHO (Koya Kamura 2024)

A young Korean woman (newcomer Bella Kim) whose French father vanished before she was born has a memorable but frustrating encounter with a famous French comic book artist (played by Roschdy Zem) who visits the lodge where he visits out of season looking for inspiration. Based on a novel, this seems more a mood piece than a story, but may linger in the mind. Both the director and book author are Asian-French.

. Showtimes
Tuesday, March 11 3:30 PM Wednesday, March 12 9:00 PM

GHOST TRAIL/ LES FANTÔMES (Jonathan Millet 2024)

Adam Bessa stars in a thriller about a man who was tortured in a Syrian prison who seeks to track down his torturer. A riveting film whose vivid sense of the web of international politics rivals that of Christian Petzold's superb Transit.

Showing:
Sunday, March 9 at 3:15pm – Q&A with Jonathan Millet
Tuesday, March 11 at 9:00pm

WILD DIAMOND/DIAMANT BRUT (Agathe Riedinger 2024)

First film of a tacky-glamorous 19-year-old South of France aspirant to online influencer and reality show fame was a surprising inclusion among Cannes Competition films. It glows with unexpected beauty. But the Variety critic's claim that this announces a "new major filmmaker" may be a bit premature.

Showing:
Monday, March 10 at 3:30pm
Saturday, March 15 at 12:30pm – Q&A with Agathe Riedinger

MEETING WITH POL POT/RENDEZ-VOUS AVEC POL POT (Rithy Panh 2024)

This 'recreation' of three journalists' visit to Cambodia to meet the genocidal 1977-1979 Khmer Rouge dictator Pol Pot is a surreal jumble of fact and fiction that is a portrait of the mechanics of propaganda.

Showing:
Friday, March 7 at 8:30pm – Q&A with Rithy Panh and Elizabeth Becker
Thursday, March 13 at 8:45pm

HOLY COW/VINGT DIEUX (Louise Courvoisier 2024)

A rolickig coming of age first feature from Cannes Un Certain Regard focused on a young guy called Totone in the Jura region who has to find himself after his hard-drinking dad, who made Comté cheeses, suddenly dies. Lovely use of the local region and local working class farming people.

Showing:
Saturday, March 8 at 12:30pm – Q&A with Louise Courvoisier.

WHEN FALL IS COMING/QUAND VIENT L'AUTONNE (François Ozon 2024)

Plot twists enliven the life of a retired old lady. The productive and variable Ozon turns to naturalism in a mostly provinncial setting.

Showing:
Friday, March 7 at 3:30pm
Sunday, March 16 at 5:45pm

BEING MARIA/MAIRA (Jessica Palud 2024)

A biopic about Maria Schneider's exploitation by Bertolucci and Brando in the making of Last Tango in Paris and her subsequent life. Not the way to become a famous actroess. And also not the way to make a movie about the life of Maria Schneider, since this is a banal and unenlightening film.

Showtimes:
Saturday, March 15 at 6:45pm – Q&A with Matt Dillon and Anamaria Vartolomei

AND THEIR CHILDREN AFTER THEM/LEURS ENFANTS APRÈS EUX (Ludovic, Zoran Boukherma 2024)

A Goncourt Prize winning novel of coming of age in a depressed eastern valley of France has made it into this adaptation that is ambitous but heavy handed and could have used more clarity and economy in the telling. However it won the young Paul Kircher a Venice acting award in the lead.. He got similar notice just previously for Animal Kingdom (2023) and winter Boy (2022),both of which got him nominations for the Meilleur Espoir Masculin César.

Showing:
Thursday, March 13 at 1:00pm
Saturday, March 15 at 3:15pm – Q&A with Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma

SOULEYMANE'S STORY/L'HISTOIRE DE SOULEYMAN (Boris Lojkine 2024)

A refugee from Guinea in Paris delivers food while homeless and preparing for a crucial immigration interview, for which he seems ill prepared. The effect is like the Dardennes, the timing is like Christian Mungiu, and the experience relates to documentaries or neorealism back all the way to Rossellini. AlloCiné ratings of 4.1 press (82%) and 4.2 spectators (84%).(High score.)

Showing:
Sunday, March 9 at 1:00pm – Introduction by producer Bruno Nahon
Friday, March 14 at 4:00pm

THE SECOND ACT/LE DEUXIÈME ACTE (Quentin Dupieux 2024)

The Opening Night Film of this year's Cannes, this jokey Pirandellian movie shoot that constantly breaks the fourth wall and makes fun of the actors, icludes some of the most famous today, Louis Garrel, Vincent Lindon, and Léa Seydoux, along with Raphaël Quenard, as well as Maanuel Guillot, and others, and an AI director, for this proports to be the first-ever film shoot conducted entirely by AI.

Showing:
Saturday, March 8 at 9:00pm – Introduction by Vincent Lindon
Thursday, March 13 at 4:00pm

THE QUIET SON/JOUER AVEC LE FEU (Delpine Coulin, Muriel Coulin 2024)

A powerfully told, visually stylish tale of a working class father with two sons, one of whom rocks the tight clan by turning to violent pro-fascist activity. You feel viscerally how awful it is when one of your own becomes someone you no longer know. With Benjamin Voisin as the dangerous son and the great Vincent Lindon as the working class dad. But it may be too monolithic and manipulative.

Showing:
Saturday, March 8 at 9:00pm – Introduction by Vincent Lindon
Thursday, March 13 at 4:00pm

THREE FRIENDS/TROIS AMIES (Emmanuel Mouret 2024)

Mouret is in peak form and polish this time at doing this thing he works at ever time: update sof Eric Rohmer reconceived as farce. It seems a bit of a downer that he revollves his ronde around the one of the three (women) friends who seems asexual or incapable of really falling in love. Even if the French conceive love as more a contract or an arrangement anyway, still you don't need to enjoy?

Showing:
Thursday, March 6 at 6:00pm – Introduction by Emmanuel Mouret and India Hair
Thursday, March 6 at 8:45pm

HOLY COW NYC release coming

Scheduled to open at Film Forum March 28, 2025.

HOLY COW, whose cast are non-actors from the Jura region, had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, where it was awarded the festival’s Youth Prize.

TRAILER

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CLÉMENT FAVEAU (RIGHT)

SULEYMAN'S STORY - US theatrical release

Kino Lorber announces the film oopens in NYC August 1
at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center

Un Certain Regard Jury Prize and Best Actor, FIPRESCI Prize – Cannes Film Festival

TRAILER

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